1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to personal computers and, in a disclosed preferred embodiment, more specifically provides a computer docking station with half-height bays and associated security system.
2. Description of Related Art
It is well known in the art to enhance the convenience of using a portable, notebook, or laptop computer (hereinafter, a "portable" computer) by providing a docking station to which the computer may be interconnected. In this manner, the computer is readily interconnected to a relatively large monitor, additional storage devices, such as disk drives, additional capabilities, such as those provided by PCMCIA cards, networks, speakers, input devices, additional microprocessors and memory devices, etc., when the computer is docked with the docking station in a user's office or home.
When the computer is not docked with the docking station, the user typically does not wish unauthorized persons to have access to the storage devices, including the disk drives, which may be incorporated into the docking station. Unfortunately, in conventional docking stations, if another person has a computer which is compatible with the docking station, that person is typically able to dock their computer with the docking station and thereby gain access to the disk drives therein.
In addition, conventional docking stations are typically configured to receive desktop computer-type disk drives therein. These desktop computer-type disk drives may be conventional floppy disk and/or hard disk drives. Unfortunately, installation and removal of these disk drives is difficult and time-consuming for the typical user.
Recently, portable disk drives have been developed for portable computers which are easily inserted into and ejected from the portable computers in a manner similar to the way in which floppy disks are inserted into and ejected from floppy disk drives. This advancement in the art now permits disk drives to be transported and interchanged between computers, substantially enhancing the user's convenience. For example, if the user has a computer configured to accept a portable disk drive both at home and at work, the user can easily work at home by transporting a portable hard disk drive containing necessary data and programs from the computer at work to the computer at home.
It would, thus, be advantageous for the user's docking station to be provided with the ability to operatively accept one or more portable disk drives therein. Unfortunately, due to the very portability of the disk drives, this situation would also increase the security concerns associated with the docking station, since an unauthorized person could easily eject the portable disk drives from the docking station when the user is away from the docking station.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that it would be quite desirable to provide a computer docking station which does not permit unauthorized access to disk drives installed therein and does not permit portable disk drives in the docking station to be removed from the docking station by unauthorized persons, but which permits convenient utilization of portable disk drives by the computer when it is docked with the docking station. It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide such a computer docking station.